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In Caring for Mentally Ill, We Must Do Better; Parity of Care

Frank Rich (column, July 29) notes that it was ''the gaping cracks in American mental-health care'' that brought Russell Weston Jr. ''to his rendezvous with history.'' We often hear about the dire consequences of people who have been denied mental health coverage, who have a cap on their coverage or who do not have access to any coverage for mental health care at all.

The public would never accept such restrictions for physical illnesses. Mental illnesses are medical diseases that must be taken seriously by the medical and insurance communities.

LYDIA LEWIS

Chicago, July 30, 1998

The writer is executive director of the National Depressive and Manic-Depressive Association.